• The KNEA News Room
• Calendar of Events
• KNEA on the Issues
• News Archive
• Read Across America

Middle School Students Seek Homework Help from Parents

Great Homework Divide Survey Reveals Parents and ‘Tweens’ Increasingly Look to Technology as a Homework Resource

Nearly nine in ten (86 percent) middle school students say that they still turn to their parents for homework help. These and other results of “The Great Homework Divide Survey” illustrate the reliance of tweens—widely recognized as children ages 9 through 12—on regular parent involvement. This finding is contrary to the conventional wisdom that tweens are eager to exercise their budding independence.

The research was commissioned by LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., in conjunction with the National Education Association. (See more KNEA resources for parents )

Parents’ and students’ responses indicate that they are both struggling to adjust to the demands of the middle school workload, which is both heavier and more varied than typical grade school assignments:

• Two-thirds of parents (66 percent) say that their middle school student seeks the parent’s help with homework.
• More than one-half of middle school students (57 percent) and their parents (59 percent) report that parents spend at least one hour a night helping them with homework.
• Parents also report helping their middle school students with homework almost two and one-half nights a week on average.

“Middle school is an ideal time for parents to recommit to their children’s academic success by fostering positive attitudes about homework,” said NEA President Reg Weaver. “Children can learn to approach the heavier homework load responsibly. And parents can act as motivators to encourage their children’s critical thinking skills and help develop fundamental study habits that will serve them for life.”

Students perform better in school when their parents are actively involved in their education. Parents can play a role in their children’s success by providing a support system for meeting homework requirements.

In fact, the survey found that on average, parents reported spending close to three hours a week helping their middle school-aged children with homework. And nearly one-half of parents agree they would assist their middle school children even more with homework if they knew how.

Interestingly, the degree to which parents are reportedly involved in their children’s homework struggles does not necessarily spell success, as almost half of middle school students (48 percent) say they have gone to school without finishing their homework because it was too difficult or because they could not find anyone to help them. It may be that middle school students need a new kind of help that parents cannot provide.

Technology Can Serve as Homework Helper

For parents who may feel challenged as to how best to support their middle school students’ developing study habits, technology may be a solution for homework-challenged children. A majority of parents agree that technology can serve many important homework-help functions, especially when the ease of the Internet is combined with teachers’ expertise:

• Seven in ten parents (73 percent) say they have used the Internet to assist their middle school-aged child with after-school work; five in ten say they have used either word processing software (52 percent) or teaching games or gadgets (50 percent) for this purpose.
• Six in ten parents (61 percent) say they have purchased a computer for the express purpose of helping their middle school-aged children study.
• Eight in ten parents (82 percent) and six in ten middle school students (66 percent) say tweens have used the Internet for homework help. 

“Technology has already begun to change today’s classroom, and parents are uniquely positioned to bring that transformation full circle by providing children access to complementary resources at home,” said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, Executive Vice President of LeapFrog and President of LeapFrog SchoolHouse. “As their children’s curriculum advances, parents are struggling to find the most effective ways to enhance the homework experience. Personal learning tools, such as LeapFrog’s FLY Pentop Computer, can help empower students to tackle their homework effectively and independently.”

LeapFrog and the NEA’s Parent Guide to Better Homework Help Sets the Stage for Learning Success

Today’s middle school students are receiving more homework, which means they need more than ever to develop and hone their organization and time management skills. The best way to support homework efforts is to help children design a framework within which they can do their best work with an increasing degree of independence:

• Be prepared. Assume your children will have studying to do every night and work with them to create a comfortable, distraction-free homework zone.
• Understand teachers’ policies and expectations. Encourage your children to ask their teachers questions, reminding them that an in-person visit before or after school is often most effective.
• Be available and teach by example. Check in with your children while they work, offering to be a sounding board or source of advice. Help them cope with feelings of failure or frustration.
• Identify other resources. Encourage your children to find homework buddies, and do not hesitate to line up extra support if needed. Get to know the guidance counselors and other school employees. Education support professionals generally know all of the students in the school, and their relationship with your children will continue as they move from one grade to the next. Consider taking advantage of the many technology-based tools and educational software titles now available.
• Stay in touch with your children’s teachers. If teachers have access to e-mail, it can be an effective way to maintain regular contact in addition to telephone calls and in-person visits. Let teachers know of any home issues that may affect academic performance or needs.
• Inspire learning outside school. Nurture your children’s personal interests, perhaps finding activities that parallel what they’re studying in school, thus fostering their enthusiasm for learning as a life-long endeavor.

More tips for bridging the Great Homework Divide can be found online at www.nea.org/parents and www.flyworld.com.

KNEA News Room Archives
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
For more information about KNEA and our work, contact the KNEA Communications Department.